Month: July 2014

Today’s Wiki-est, Amazonian Googlies
Across
1. Stephen King title city SALEM
Stephen King’s “’Salem’s Lot” was published in 1975, his second novel. It belongs to the horror genre, so you won’t catch me reading it. The title refers to the Maine town of Jerusalem’s Lot, or ‘Salem’s Lot for short. There’s an interesting story about the actual publication of the first edition. The intended price of $8.95 was changed at the last minute to $7.95, but not all the price changes were made before release. A few copies “escaped” with the dust cover marked $8.95, and they are now worth a lot of money. Go check your bookshelves …

6. USS Enterprise android DATA
Brent Spiner played the android named Lieutenant Commander Data on television’s “Star Trek: The Next Generation”.

14. Beethoven honoree ELISE
“Fur Elise” is a beautiful piece of music written by Beethoven, and is also known as “Bagatelle in A Minor”. “Fur Elise” means simply “For Elise”, but sadly no one knows for sure the identity of the mysterious dedicatee.

17. Steer catcher RIATA
“Reata” is the Spanish word for “lasso”. We tend to use the spelling “riata” in English, but sometimes can use the original Spanish word.

18. Haboob, for one WINDSTORM
A haboob is a type of dust storm seen in very arid parts of the world such as the Sahara desert.

23. Nashville awards gp. CMA
Country Music Association (CMA)

31. Astrologer Dixon JEANE
Jeane Dixon was a famous American astrologer who wrote a popular syndicated astrology column for many years.

32. MD for women GYN
Gynecologist (gyn.)

33. Falco of “Nurse Jackie” EDIE
“Nurse Jackie” is a comedy-drama series centered on an emergency room nurse at a hospital in New York City. The lead character is played by Edie Falco, who also played Tony Soprano’s wife on the “The Sopranos”.

34. River ends? ARS
There is a letter R (ar) at either end of the word “river”.

39. Dark time in poetry E’EN
Evening (e’en)

40. “What kind of a name is ‘Wilbur’ for a man?” speaker MR ED
“Mister Ed” first aired in 1961 and ran for almost five years. It was a very successful show (and even made it to Ireland!). Mister Ed, the talking horse, was a palomino that had the real name of Bamboo Harvester. Mister Ed’s “voice” was that of actor Allan “Rocky” Lane, a star of a lot of B-movie westerns from the forties and fifties. In the show, Mister Ed would only talk to the lead (human) character Wilbur, played by Alan Young, leading to some hilarious situations. Mister Ed had a stunt double and stand-in for the show, another horse called Pumpkin. Pumpkin later played the horse that made frequent appearances on the show “Green Acres”.

49. Trig. ratio COS
The most familiar trigonometric functions are sine, cosine and tangent. Each of these is a ratio, a ratio of two sides of a right-angled triangle. The reciprocal of these three functions are secant, cosecant and cotangent. The reciprocal functions are simply the inverted ratios, the inverted sine, cosine and tangent.

50. “Bus Stop” playwright INGE
Playwright William Inge had a run of success on Broadway in the early fifties. Inge’s most celebrated work of that time was the play “Picnic”, for which he was awarded a Pulitzer Prize. The original 1953 cast of “Picnic” included a young male actor making his debut on Broadway. His name was Paul Newman. Many of Inge’s works are set in the American heartland and so he became known as the “Playwright of the Midwest”.

“Bus Stop” is a marvelous play written by William Inge in 1955. The famous 1956 movie of the same name starring Marilyn Monroe is only very loosely based on the play.

60. Ship that sailed to Colchis ARGO
Jason is a hero from Greek mythology, most noted for leading the quest for the Golden Fleece. The Golden Fleece is the fleece of the gold-haired winged ram. For his quest, Jason assembles a group of heroes who were given the name Argonauts, as they journeyed on the ship called the “Argo”. The vessel was called the “Argo” in honor of the ship’s builder, a man named Argus.

In Greek mythology, Colchis was a wealthy land located at the edge of the world. It was in Colchis that Jason and the Argonauts found the Golden Fleece.

61. Humerus neighbor ULNA
The humerus is the long bone in the upper arm. The bones in the forearm are the radius and ulna. “Ulna” is the Latin word for “elbow”, and “radius” is Latin for “ray”.

Down
1. Balkan native SERB
Serbs are an ethnic group native to the Balkans in southeastern Europe. Although Serbs exist as a minority group in many countries in the region, they are the majority ethnic group in Serbia, in Montenegro and in Bosnia and Herzegovina.

The Balkan Peninsula in Southeast Europe is usually referred to as “the Balkans”. The region takes its name from the Balkan Mountains located in present-day Bulgaria and Serbia. “Balkan” is Bulgarian for “mountain”.

2. Latin “others” ALIA
Et alii (et al.) is the equivalent of et cetera (etc.), with et cetera being used in place of a list of objects, and et alii used for a list of names. In fact “et al.” can stand for et alii (for a group of males, or males and females), aliae (for a group of women) and et alia (for a group of neuter nouns, or for a group of people where the intent is to retain gender-neutrality).

4. Miami Sound Machine singer ESTEFAN
Gloria Estefan is a Cuban American singer, born in Havana. She fled Cuba along with her family after the Cuban Revolution, and ended up in Miami. Her father fought for the US military in Vietnam, and also took part in the doomed Bay of Pigs invasion. Years later, Gloria herself was approached by the CIA to work for the agency due to her skill with languages. She ended up doing quite well singing instead …

7. Henri’s lady friend AMIE
A male friend in France is “un ami”, and a female friend is “une amie”.

13. Yosemite __ SAM
Yosemite Sam is a cartoon character who frequently goes up against Bugs Bunny.

19. “Brave New World” drug SOMA
In Aldous Huxley’s 1931 masterpiece, “Brave New World”, the members of his future society are encouraged to partake of the drug called soma. The soma provides hangover-free escapes referred to as “holidays”.

There is a speech by Miranda in “The Tempest” by William Shakespeare that is the source for the title of “Brave New World” by Aldous Huxley:

O wonder!
How many goodly creatures are there here!
How beauteous mankind is! O brave new world,
That has such people in’t.

21. WWII intelligence org. OSS
The Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) is the successor to the Office of Strategic Services (OSS) formed during WWII. The CIA was chartered by the National Security Act of 1947.

24. Three-time A.L. MVP BERRA
Yogi Berra is regarded by many as the greatest catcher ever to play in Major League Baseball, and has to be America’s most celebrated “author” of malapropisms. Here are some greats:

– “It’s ain’t over till it’s over.”
– “90% of the game is half mental.”
– “Nobody goes there anymore. It’s too crowded.”
– (giving directions) “When you come to a fork in the road, take it.”
– “It’s déjà vu all over again.”
– “Always go to other people’s funerals, otherwise they won’t go to yours.”
– “A nickel ain’t worth a dime anymore.”

27. “Quartet in Autumn” English novelist Barbara PYM
Barbara Pym was an English novelist who was known in the 1950s for her social novels “Excellent Women” and “Glass of Blessings”. Pym’s writing career floundered for almost twenty years until an article in “The Times Literary Supplement” named her “the most underrated writer of the 20th century”. That same year (1977), Pym was elected as a Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature and her new novel “Quartet in Autumn” was shortlisted for the Man Booker Prize.

28. Clarifier usually abbreviated ID EST
i.e. = id est = that is, in Latin …

29. Bohr of the Manhattan Project NIELS
Niels Bohr was a Danish physicist, who won his 1922 Nobel Prize for his work on quantum mechanics and atomic structure. Later in his life he was part of the team working on the Manhattan Project, developing the first atomic bomb.

The Manhattan project was the joint US-Canada-UK project to develop an atomic bomb during WWII. Initially, the Army headquarters for the program was located on the 18th floor of a building on Broadway in New York City. Eventually, because of that first location, the project adopted the name “Manhattan”.

30. Code carrier GENE
A gene is a section of a chromosome that is responsible for a particular characteristic in an organism. For example, one gene may determine eye color and another balding pattern. We have two copies of each gene, one from each of our parents, with each copy known as an allele.

31. It’s perpendicular to a threshold JAMB
A door or window jamb is the vertical portion of the frame. The term “jamb” comes from the French word “jambe” meaning “leg”.

Years ago I was taking a tour of a beautiful Elizabethan manor house in England, and was told a little “threshing” story by the guide as we stood in one of the rooms. She reminded us that threshing was the removal of seeds from chaff, and told us that back in the day the “chaff” was sometimes called the “thresh”. Thresh would be used on the floors, particularly in the kitchen areas where it would soak up spills and provide some thermal insulation, much as sawdust was used in my favorite pubs many moons ago. She pointed to two slots at the bottom of the door jambs where she said a low board was placed upright on the floor, to hold the thresh in the room. The board was called a “thresh-hold”, giving us our contemporary word “threshold”. I am not sure if all of that is really true, but it makes a nice story.

44. Republic formerly under Danish rule ICELAND
Iceland is the most sparsely populated country in the whole of Europe, with two-thirds of the nation’s population residing in and around the capital city of Reykjavik. Iceland was settled by the Norse people in AD 874, and was ruled for centuries by Norway and then Denmark. Iceland became independent in 1918, and has been republic since 1944.

48. What a QB tries to avoid INT
Interception (Int.)

53. Gossip columnist Barrett RONA
Rona Barrett is a gossip columnist originally from New York City but who plies her trade in Southern California. Barrett started out as with a gossip column that was syndicated in newspapers but then made a successful transition to television. She made regular appearances in news broadcasts and on her entertainment shows in the sixties and seventies.

54. “Copacetic, man” I DIG
Something described as “copacetic” is very fine, very acceptable.

58. Amount past due? TRE
“One, two, three” in Italian is “uno, due, tre”.

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For the sake of completion, here is a full listing of all the answers:
Across
1. Stephen King title city SALEM
6. USS Enterprise android DATA
10. Drinks slowly SIPS
14. Beethoven honoree ELISE
15. What may make the future tense? OMEN
16. Start of a solution IDEA
17. Steer catcher RIATA
18. Haboob, for one WINDSTORM
20. Really opens up BARES ONE’S SOUL
22. Circuit protector FUSE
23. Nashville awards gp. CMA
24. Warrants another mention BEARS REPEATING
31. Astrologer Dixon JEANE
32. MD for women GYN
33. Falco of “Nurse Jackie” EDIE
34. River ends? ARS
35. Idealist DREAMER
39. Dark time in poetry E’EN
40. “What kind of a name is ‘Wilbur’ for a man?” speaker MR ED
42. Donation, say AID
43. Seating option AISLE
45. Greed and jealousy are among them BASER INSTINCTS
49. Trig. ratio COS
50. “Bus Stop” playwright INGE
51. Threat of power, and a hint to the starts of 20-, 24- and 45-Across SABER RATTLING
57. Autograph signing locale STAGE DOOR
59. Call, in a way RADIO
60. Ship that sailed to Colchis ARGO
61. Humerus neighbor ULNA
62. Draw together UNITE
63. Withdraw by degrees WEAN
64. Ingredients in some stews PEAS
65. Egyptian pyramid’s eight EDGES

Down
1. Balkan native SERB
2. Latin “others” ALIA
3. One may be habitual LIAR
4. Miami Sound Machine singer ESTEFAN
5. Carefully considered MEASURED
6. It’ll bum you out DOWNER
7. Henri’s lady friend AMIE
8. Arithmetic column TENS
9. Director’s “Done with this segment!” AND SCENE!
10. Put in place SITUATE
11. False __ IDOL
12. A PER
13. Yosemite __ SAM
19. “Brave New World” drug SOMA
21. WWII intelligence org. OSS
24. Three-time A.L. MVP BERRA
25. Lightens EASES
26. “Zounds!” EGADS!
27. “Quartet in Autumn” English novelist Barbara PYM
28. Clarifier usually abbreviated ID EST
29. Bohr of the Manhattan Project NIELS
30. Code carrier GENE
31. It’s perpendicular to a threshold JAMB
36. Lifted RAISED UP
37. A, in Germany EIN
38. Sounded right RANG TRUE
41. Figure with 10 sides DECAGON
44. Republic formerly under Danish rule ICELAND
46. Court cover-up ROBE
47. Pageant symbols TIARAS
48. What a QB tries to avoid INT
51. Multipart story SAGA
52. Auditioner’s goal ROLE
53. Gossip columnist Barrett RONA
54. “Copacetic, man” I DIG
55. Dark time in ads NITE
56. Exits GOES
57. Caught at the theater SAW
58. Amount past due? TRE

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